Category: Rock and/or Roll

Categories
Demos Rock and/or Roll

The It and I

You’re likely familiar with Freud’s theory that the psyche is structured in three parts: the Id, Ego, and Superego. The Ego is the you you think of when you think of you. The Id is your animal nature: the part of you that wants immediate gratification with food, sex, and violence. The Superego is the angel sitting on your shoulder reminding you to have patience, plan ahead, or take the high road.

What you might not know about Freud’s theory is that the German words he chose were everyday words, rather than Latin: Das Es, Ich, and Über-Ich. That is, “The It,” “I,” and “Over-I.”

From Jekyll and Hyde to Nick Lowe’s “The Beast in Me” to St. Paul’s “For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do,” people have been trying to figure out what this thing is that rears its ugly head when we least expect it. Freud would call it The It.

With that in mind, I wrote “The It and I.” The song laments the shadow side that accompanies us all our days. Neither the song–nor I–have come to any conclusions about this ugly part of ourselves. Make peace with The It, my friend–It is you.

1. The It and I.
The It and I.
By night or in the day,
I cannot get away;
my shadow never leaves my side.
The It and I.

2. The It and I.
The It and I.
I feed it or I starve
this beast inside my heart
and yet it seems he’ll never die.
The It and I.

3. The It and I.
The It and I.
Why won’t it let me be?
Oh, will it ever leave?
Or will it hound me til I die?
The It and I.

I’m starting to believe it’s me.

Categories
Demos Jazz Rock and/or Roll

All for Love

Forever ago, Outside Pocket played a show for which Olivia Vargas was the opener. The week of, she posted a video of a new song she had written for the concert. I had hoped to surprise her with a companion tune–something that echoed the bluesy feel of her new song–but I just couldn’t bring things together in time for the show.

That draft has been sitting in my idea folder for months. After a few false starts, I finished the song today. I’m still not sure what to think about it: It’s instrumental, but not jazz in the traditional sense. I could hear it being performed by a jazz/blues sax player backed up by a gritty, groovin’ Soul/R&B rhythm section. But I didn’t have that at my disposal today, so I recorded the demo with electric guitar, Rhodes, nylon string guitar, bass, and programmed drums.

And yes, the opening riff is from Three Dog Nights’ “One Is the Loneliest Number.”

Categories
Commissions Demos Rock and/or Roll

Tuesday Was Behind You (w/ TL Moody)

This is the second “slice of life” song co-written with Tammy Moody. This time Tammy turned to Philippians 3:13 for her inspiration: “I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on…” One of the things I especially like about the lyrics are that you wouldn’t necessarily know the song was based on a scripture–it works on its own as a song about a down-on-her-luck woman who chooses to look forward in hope rather than backward with regret.

I was really excited to write the music for this one because I got to channel my inner Los Lobos. That is not an everyday request! It felt good to plug in my Strat and get out my tambourine to create a jangly roots rock recording.

1. glancing back,
you saw tuesday standin’ there
peering out the opened red door
on the right
empty candy wrapper held
cigarette-like, tight

turned around
only reminders you got
turned around
failure is followin’ you
turned around burnt out cinders
there is nothin’ left for you

2. glancing back,
you saw tuesday standin’ there
lips pursed thin and folding
in to the slightest smirk
dancing bony fingers
tap on your new plaid skirt

turned around
only reminders you got
turned around
failure is followin’ you
turned around burnt out cinders
there is nothin’ left for you

turn it down, this noise inside my head
tell me now is any of it true?
Lord, turn it down, down,
the noise inside my head,
shoutin’ there is nothing left for you.

3. glancing up ahead
and sunday’s standin’
there you look straight at chaos
stop starin’ at the ground
tune inside is hummin’ girl,
don’t look back now

in front of you
only reminders
in front of you
mercy is waitin’ you
in front of you God’s hot embers
there’s a fire lit inside of you

Categories
Demos Jazz Rock and/or Roll

Mr. McFunkypants

It all started with a bass line played into my phone. It was a deep enough groove that it merited further attention. I began filling out those initial four bars with a bona fide melody and an ABAC form. Voila! Mr. McFunkypants was born! Mr. MFP is second cousin-in-funk to the Average White Band’s “Pick Up the Pieces,” but he’s something of a “Chameleon” and has always dreamed of being a “Watermelon Man.”

I left a verse free for anyone who would like to add a solo on top of this demo.

We want the funk!

Categories
Demos Rock and/or Roll

The Perfect Song

One of the traits that makes me annoying (among so many others) is my pursuit of perfection. I’m not a perfectionist in the traditional sense of the word–abusing myself for every short-coming–but I do seek excellence. (Making me an excellentionist?) In music, that means I edit relentlessly, striving to achieve “balance and beauty” as another song put it.

“The Perfect Song” started out with musings on this topic and then branched into all the other areas of life in which we can imagine something–we can practically taste it–but it remains just out of reach. Perhaps the thing’s elusiveness is part of its allure, our desire propelled by the dream of consummation.

What I like about this song is that it is exceedingly simple but asymmetrically balanced. Each verse ends with a space where a fourth line would ordinarily go; it is both balanced but seemingly incomplete. The same is true of the chorus. “Will it be enough?” repeats three times and feels like it should end with “enough for me” or something else to complete the thought, but instead it revels in the unfulfilled longing that is the very subject of the song.

What I like about the recording is that it counters the intimate simplicity of the vocals with moments of instrumental chaos–just like life. Yet somehow it all holds together: chaos without, order within, and a never-ending search for the perfect song.

1. I’ve been searching for the perfect song.
I’ve been searching for the perfect song.
But it’s been here all along.

2. I’ve spent my days chasing dreams.
I’ve spent my days chasing dreams.
So beautiful, but just out of reach.

Will it be enough?

3. I’ve been trying to find my place.
I’ve been trying to find my place.
But everywhere I go is already taken.

Will it be enough?

Categories
Quirky Rock and/or Roll

Coffee Talking

What the world needs right now is another song about coffee.

This song idea has been floating around forever in my head and little scraps of paper. It started as only a phrase: “It’s just the coffee talking.” Then last year I decided it would be funny for the words of a song about coffee to get faster and more incoherent as the song progressed. A few months ago I came up with the scenario of a man who’s painfully shy around his love interest until he’s fully caffeinated. (Kind of like Brad Paisley’s “Alcohol,” but for coffee shop nerds.) This week I tied up all the loose ends and present to you “Coffee Talking.”

1. When I see you,
what can I do?

2. When I see that you are near me,
my mouth goes dry, I stare at my feet.

Caffeine’s what I need.
It’ll be my black bolt of courage
In my time of need.
With my head full of steam,
next time I see you walking
It’ll be the coffee talking in me.

3. Suddenly I’m not so scared, I’m optimistically preparing.
(It’s just the coffee talking.)
I’m filled with confidence, you say to me, “Nice day,” and I say, “Very!”
(It’s just the coffee talking.)
Well, I’m on a roll, try something new: I pat your dog, say “He’s so cute.”
(It’s just the coffee talking.)
Seems to work, I turn to you, I pat your head and say, “You are cute, too!”
(It’s just the coffee talking.)

CHORUS

4. Euphoria is filling me just like I hoped it would
and I have never felt so good and I have never been so free.
(It’s just the coffee talking.)
My mouth has taken on a mind that’s all its own, my tongue’s untied,
My lungs fill up with air for good or ill I start to speak:
(It’s just the coffee talking.)
“Hey, would you go out with me? I think about it all the time—
but not like that—I hope I didn’t come across as sounding super creepy.
(It’s just the coffee talking.)
But I could see the two of us fall head and heels in love and get
engaged and married, make some babies, maybe start with dinner and a movie.”
(It’s just the coffee talking.)

CHORUS

Hey, I’m sorry. (It was just the coffee talking.)
Please don’t worry. (It was just the coffee talking.)
That’s not like me. (It was just the coffee talking.)
It’s just the coffee. (It was just the coffee talking.)

CHORUS

Categories
One. Long. Year. Rock and/or Roll

One. Long. Year. #2 Never Perfect

Just in time for your Valentine’s Day celebrations, here’s the latest installment of The St. Sinner Orchestra’s “One. Long. Year.” serial album.

Categories
One. Long. Year. Rock and/or Roll

One. Long. Year. #1 We’re Holding On

In 2020, the St. Sinner Orchestra is releasing an album entitled One. Long. Year. This is an ambitious project in two ways:

  1. One. Long. Year. is a concept album following the inner life of an unnamed protagonist throughout the course of a year. The songs start on New Year’s Day with new love and hope for the future (“We’re Holding On”). But by Valentine’s Day, tiny cracks begin to appear in the relationship (“Never Perfect”) and the darkness that resides as a seed in every heart begins to grow into a vine that threatens to choke out all that is good. By New Year’s Eve 365 days later, the protagonist’s life has unraveled completely.
  2. One. Long. Year. is a serial album. I will release the 10 tracks where they occur on the calendar throughout the year. “Almost Already Gone” on Ash Wednesday, “Am I the Only One (Who Wishes Summer Would End)?” on July 4, etc.

It should also be noted that this album is recorded more-or-less live with two microphones. This may not be the most polished album of 2020, but it is honest music played by real musical friends. I think the world needs more of that.

Let’s begin our musical journey with “We’re Holding On.” (It starts quietly.)

1. Raindrops explode and combine;
they stream down windowpanes in the night.
Cars pass in brief bursts of light;
shine like stars falling from night skies.

We’re holding on for dear life.

2. Warm breath, exhaled, intertwined;
this breath is it yours? Is it mine?
Can two hearts resonate, synchronize?
As the universe keeps time,

We’re holding on for dear life.

This night will never end.

Categories
Church Rock and/or Roll

Refugee King, with Liz Vice, et al

It was my great pleasure to work with Liz Vic, Wen Reagan, Bruce Benedict, and Lester Ruth to write this song, “Away in A Manger.” Most Christmas songs are all sweetness, with the baby Jesus sleeping contentedly, “no crying he makes.” This song turns that idyllic picture on its head, revealing the drama and stress of a real family with a real baby who was the target of jealous politician’s wrath, forcing them to flee “away from the manger” to the safety of Egypt. Liz does a wonderful job on this new recording, just in time for Christmas.

Categories
Rock and/or Roll

The Year of My Fall